Who’s facing the axe in 2016? Bookmaker offers odds on CEO sackings January 3, 2016 Let's face it; everyone dreads the first day back at work. To keep stress levels especially high at the top, bookies Ladbrokes have been drawing up odds on which CEOs will be clearing their desks by the end of the year. Only two chiefs can afford to relax, according to the firm; Easyjet’s Carolyn McCall and Taylor [...]
Former UK Oil and Gas chairman David Lenigas leaves boards of all his Aim firms including AfriAg and Rare Earth Minerals December 22, 2015 David Lenigas, the Australian entrepreneur who famously claimed there may be "multiple billion barrels" of oil under Gatwick, has left the boards of all five of his Aim companies. "I am now off every board I was on on AIM. Don't intend to ever go back on another. Now I can buy shares any day [...]
Hell of a year: What rocked markets in 2015 – From Grexit to the commodity crash via a China meltdown and the VW scandal December 22, 2015 2015 was a truly turbulent year for investors, from Grexit and the China stock market crash, to commodities falling to record lows, volatility spiking, bond markets making losses across the board, the most uncertain UK election in a generation rankling investors, the US Federal Reserve's first rate rise in 9 years… the list goes on. [...]
End of the Delaware flip: Why US investors are targeting UK startups December 22, 2015 Pfizer's record-breaking $160bn deal to take over the Irish pharmaceutical company Allergan, which will result in the former becoming an Irish company, has been attacked in the US as “unpatriotic”. However, it also highlights the increasingly compelling advantages to basing high-growth technology and life sciences businesses in the UK and Ireland. US venture capitalists have [...]
UK pensions: Annuity holders can sell from 2017 – giving freedom to millions of savers who bought the guaranteed income products but got a raw deal December 16, 2015 Pensioners who have bought annuities will be given the option to sell them on from April 2017, the government has said. Under new plans still being worked out, people who used their pension savings to buy an annuity and guarantee an income for life will be able to sell it through a broker. They [...]
EA’s new eSports division shows investors should stop ignoring and undervaluing competitive video gaming’s golden growth potential December 11, 2015 Last month, the best-performing media release of the year was revealed. It wasn’t Spectre, Adele’s new album or tickets for U2’s latest global tour. It was Fallout 4, a game from Bethesda Game Studios, which made $750m (£497.6m) in a single day of sales. One of the biggest industries you may not yet have heard [...]
Tesco share price falls to an 18-year low: What was going on last time it was this low? December 10, 2015 Shares in embattled supermarket Tesco ended at an 18-year low yesterday, having closed down 2.27 per cent to 153.00p per share. The declines are part of an ongoing saga that the retailer has been battling for over a year now, but the failure of the top team to get to grips with the issues has led to [...]
Brazil: Markets greet news of impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff positively, as the real and stock market both rise December 3, 2015 Brazil’s markets jumped 3 per cent today as investors greeted news of plans to impeach President Dilma Rousseff with relief. Yesterday, impeachment proceedings were opened by the speaker of the lower house, Eduardo Cunha, one of the most powerful sitting politicians and now Rousseff’s arch nemesis. Proceedings have been launched on charges that Rousseff broke [...]
Star Wars economics: How destroying the Death Star created a financial crisis across the Galactic Empire after Return of the Jedi December 3, 2015 Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and the rest of the Rebel Alliance may have triumphed in defeating the Galactic Empire's overlord Lord Palpatine, but with freedom would have come financial collapse. As government infrastructure projects go, Death Stars are rather pricey. The cost of building two – both destroyed within four years by the end of Return of the Jedi – stands [...]
Morrisons drops out as pharma boosts FTSE 100 – London Report December 3, 2015 The FTSE 100 index closed up last night, buoyed by pharmaceuticals that were given a boost from a Morgan Stanley note supporting AstraZeneca. The UK’s top blue-chip index closed up 0.4 per cent, at 6,420.93 points. Shire led the pack higher, closing 2.35 per cent up at 4,745p per share, while GlaxoSmithKline ended the session [...]